Last night, we lost 2 hens to a raccoon break in. It is doubly sad because it got 2 of the youngest hens. If it got one of the original, older Frey's DP Slow Growth meat hens that don't lay very often anymore, it would have been a tad less saddening.

Sorry to hear Kimchick. They've found a grocery story they like so count on them being back. My neighbor lost 8 young ones in one evening. Ran out the next evening when she heard a ruckess and there was 6 racoons trying to get back in for the rest.

Apparently one way to deter raccoons is to pee and have your dogs and male animals/humans pee around the perimeters of the area to be protected. Hair is also supposed to work, but who has that much hair? If you know a hair stylist or dog groomer, you u can spread hair around your corn patch to keep those pesky varmints out of your corn. My dad's philosophy about raccoons involved planting three rows or corn, two for the raccoons and one for him. They are kinda cute and have a right to live, too.Farrier would have liked my dad.

I genuinely always feel bad when folks lose their birds to predators...and if they are free ranged then it will happen because those birds will always go where it looks interesting and your dogs can't get to them...happened here altho i got lucky and didnt lose any.... the coop thing is another story all together. .i defy any predator to find a way into my coop when it is locked up for the night...i went thru a lot of trouble (well, not trouble so much as serious consideration) when building the coop...i put my dogs in at night out of respect for any and all neighbours, so they are not out to patrol the area...so the coop had to be 'fort knox' and it is...i think that's the only way to avoid losing birds in the coop at night.....just my thoughts

Last edited by TomK on Fri Jul 20, 2018 3:18 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Great!
I'm also with Al and the others on that one! Glad to see that you keep your cool around snakes and even big ones!
Too many people would just grab the shovel and start hitting.

LOL. well, i'm the one that found the dead half meter long garter snake under the tractor tire a few days ago when hubby pulled out to move hay.....um...so hubby skips the shovel and just parks a tractor on it!?! (okay, not on purpose)....

that's an awesome fox snake. sometimes they'll act like rattlesnakes and posture and all that, but they aren't poisonous. still that's a good size!
glad it didn't get the birds. without snakes we'd be overrun with rats and mice. they do do good things! i nearly stepped on a nice big garter snake right outside my door the other day. i shoo'd it off away from the birds, because my hens will hunt them down and kill them!

sorry to hear kimchick-coons are BAD this year. i've already dispatched 3? 4? can't remember.....and there were prints in the sand outside the barn again last weekend so i'm sure there's more hanging out....so youngsters are locked in. the old girls are out, there are 9 and i get 1 egg every 3 days...so...well...not as bad really.....and the door to the pens upstairs is firmly closed....and upstairs is all wired with 1/2 inch wire and screws. it can go up but not in. they're crafty and relentless and invite all their buddies the next night.